S5E5 Tom Kress | Medical Device Engineering Leaders 6

Tom Kress discusses his career path in medical device engineering and leadership. He shares insights on developing successful engineers and teams, challenges in the industry, and a vision for the future of medical devices with AI.

Main Topics:

• Career paths and skills for engineers
• Leadership challenges and politics in the workplace
• Trends in medical device manufacturing and the future of AI
• Technical skills and habits of top engineers

About the guest: Tom Kress has been in the product design & development space for over 15 years. A creative and results-oriented Engineering leader, Tom’s contributions include problem-solving, analytical, and technical skills and a strong ability to lead cross-functional teams in medical and technical industries from concept to feasibility.

Links:
Tom Kress - LinkedIn

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About Being An Engineer

The Being An Engineer podcast is a repository for industry knowledge and a tool through which engineers learn about and connect with relevant companies, technologies, people resources, and opportunities. We feature successful mechanical engineers and interview engineers who are passionate about their work and who made a great impact on the engineering community.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us

Chapters

• 0:17 Traits of successful engineers including curiosity and thirst for knowledge
• 1:25 Tom Kress discusses his background in chemical engineering and career path to medical devices
• 6:03 Leadership development and imposter syndrome as an engineering leader
• 10:30 Current trends in medical device manufacturing like additive manufacturing
• 13:05 Technical skills and habits looked for when hiring engineers
• 15:38 Persistence and willingness to ask questions in successful engineers
• 21:10 Engineering leadership challenges including dealing with politics
• 27:15 Big challenges facing medical device companies such as regulations
• 28:57 Tom's vision for a tool that could instantly create new parts
• 31:34 Future of medical devices with increasing AI integration

Transcript

Presenter: 0:00

Hi, everyone, we've set up this being an engineer podcast as an industry knowledge repository, if you will, we hope it'll be a tool where engineers can learn about and connect with other companies, technologies, people, resources and opportunities. So make some connections and enjoy the show.

Tom Kress: 0:18

I would say the thing that I've seen from the most successful engineers on my team, it has been kind of a curiosity to learn not only like the products that we have, and that we manufacture, but also curiosity about what's going on in the market, that kind of thirst for knowledge on how to do things better.

Aaron Moncur: 0:54

Hello, and welcome to another exciting podcast, the being an engineer Podcast. Today, we are talking with Tom Kress. Tom has been in the product design and development space for over 15 years, a creative and results oriented engineering leader. Tom's contributions include problem solving, analytical and technical skills, and a strong ability to lead cross functional teams in medical and technical industries from concept to feasibility. Tom, thank you so much for joining us today.

Tom Kress: 1:25

Thank you for having me.

Aaron Moncur: 1:27

Well, tell us a little bit about how you decided to become an engineer originally.

Tom Kress: 1:33

So actually started pretty young. I was always interested in math and science, and going through school. And so I think my sophomore year of high school, we had to do a project where we looked at kind of what majors we wanted to look at. And finding a way to kind of combine math and science together, started gravitating towards engineering.

Aaron Moncur: 1:58

Yeah. Did you work on many projects, when you were growing up building forts, or taking cars apart or bikes, anything like that?

Tom Kress: 2:06

Wasn't so much taking things apart? I was really interested in chemistry. So friends that I were doing science experiments at our garages, and one of my favorites was we made underwater fireworks. It was pretty cool.

Aaron Moncur: 2:22

Oh, that's cool.

Tom Kress: 2:23

Yeah.

Aaron Moncur: 2:25

How did your parents feel about that?

Tom Kress: 2:27

Luckily, we didn't do it at my parents house. So.

Aaron Moncur: 2:31

Okay. That's right. I should clarify that Tom is a chemical engineer. And actually, I wanted to ask you something about this, Tom, about being a chemical engineer, specifically, I talked with a guy, another engineering leader in the medical device space a little while ago, and he said something that kind of surprised me not not that I disagree with it at all. But I just hadn't thought about that before. He said that, when he's hiring process development engineers, he likes to hire chemical engineers, because for whatever reason, they have this process mentality just baked in into their mindset already. Have you seen that be the case? Do you think that's true? Or what are your thoughts about that, in general? So

Tom Kress: 3:17

I've seen the true for me, for sure. I'm very much a process oriented person. So I'm always looking to improve the processes where I work to make things more efficient. I haven't hired a lot for the process engineering space. But now that you say that it actually rings kind of true for me. If I ever

Aaron Moncur: 3:45

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Tell us a little bit about your background. So you're a chemical engineer, but it sounds like you've done quite a lot of work in product design. Is that right?

Tom Kress: 3:57

So I wasn't planning on being in the medical device space at all. I got an opportunity. When I was a freshman in college, one of my friends there, their dad owned a small contract design for an asked me to come work over winter break. So I was doing that. And then I came back the next summer. And I was doing a lot of work on the molding machines that they were using back there. And we were actually molding these leads for a pacemaker from Medtronic. And it was funny because I was telling my grandfather about that project that I was working on. And, you know, he asked me, he's like, oh, what company is that? That you're doing those for? And I told him and he's like, that's the pacemaker that I have and right now, just know blown away by that. Last night, I think it was like from that point forward that I started seriously looking at medical device and being in the design space. Because that was such like a huge impact for me. So when I got back to school, I started looking at taking more biology classes and looking more at like hemodynamics. And, and starting getting a little bit more in that space as well and a push to get kind of a minor in bio engineering as well, because I was a little late in the game to switch. So that's a

Aaron Moncur: 5:34

great story. Thanks for sharing that. Okay, so you, I mean, you're you're a leader in the medical device engineering space. And I think oftentimes engineers look up to leaders and wonder, how did they get there? You know, what did they do to achieve that position? Can you talk a little bit about that? What what do you think, maybe one or two of the most influential factors are that allowed you to climb into the the position of leadership that you're in?

Tom Kress: 6:03

Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, I had a, I've been very lucky with my managers, as I've gone through my career, and they've all been very supportive. And I've been open with them, about wanting to lead people. And, you know, I think I spent a lot of time gaining skills that were necessary, so that the technical aspect of the bleeding engineers was there. But then just trying to kind of find ways to build up some of that managerial experience without necessarily being a manager, or having people directly reporting into me. So looking for ways to lead teams and initiatives, lead projects, that kind of stuff, where you have to be in that position where you're delegating work and kind of motivating people to get the tasks done. While not, you know, being a direct manager to them. So that's, I think that was a big, big thing that I was looking for. And all of my managers were very supportive. And in pursuing that stuff.

Aaron Moncur: 7:22

That's a big deal, having supportive managers and mentors along the way, as, as you climbed that ladder into a leadership position. Did you ever feel a sense of imposter syndrome?

Tom Kress: 7:36

Absolutely. I remember when I started, as a senior manager at BD, I was talking to my wife, and I was like, I know, I have the skill set to do this. But at the same time, why did they hire me? So yeah, I think for a while it was I had never managed a team that big, I'd never had that much responsibility before. So for sure, I walked into that, and, you know, trying to trust that they saw something in me and trust my experience on my background that I was able to do that. So absolutely. I felt that before. I

Aaron Moncur: 8:16

think that's very common. Beyond the trust that you had in those who hired you. Did you implement any tools in particular that helped you manage those feelings while you had them of imposter syndrome?

Tom Kress: 8:32

Yeah, I think it was, I spent time really just understanding what I wanted to do in this position, like what, what my goals were, obviously aligned to what the business needed. But, you know, it's my first time being in a management position where I didn't also have to be an individual contributor. So, you know, I tried looking back at past managers that I had, what they did that I liked, that I could use other groups that had been a part of, or have been really excited about the work that we're doing, and trying to draw on some of that. And then I had, I had done my, in my MBA, so trying to draw on some of the stuff that we learned from other companies and how they've organized teams and, and done work that way. I tried to kind of pick and choose stuff that fit that fit my style. And so I think to get over the imposter syndrome, it was kind of focusing on doing that work. And then, you know, gradually introducing that stuff to the team and meeting the team. I started getting more comfortable in the position and starting to feel like you know, I was capable of doing this and succeeding. Yeah, yeah.

Aaron Moncur: 9:59

I think That's a sign that we're growing right? Well, we start to feel a little uncomfortable. I've never led a team this size before. It's a sign of growth and an opportunity.

Tom Kress: 10:11

Yeah, absolutely.

Aaron Moncur: 10:12

Well, what What trends are you seeing these days in medical device manufacturing, whether it's something about new processes that are being used or materials, or just what what patterns have you noticed emerging in the past few years in medical device manufacturing. So

Tom Kress: 10:30

I think a lot of the stuff that that we've been looking at, within my group, with operations here, specifically around materials selection and processes is that we do a lot of machining work. So a lot of times, you know, we're taking material away, you have to remove a lot of material if you're starting with these big blocks. So looking at ways to kind of combine some of the CNC aspects with additive manufacturing or casting, so that you can get the shape close. And then, you know, clean up with the CNC to get the tight tolerancing. It helps a lot with making sure you get the precision that's needed, while not compromising on, on the design intent. So I know that something that we've been spending a lot of time looking into is, is how to, you know, manufacture things faster, or less expensive. Methods her for delivering materials and components.

Aaron Moncur: 12:11

Sure. You mentioned additive manufacturing, if you're using metal additive manufacturing, have you found a way to do that cost effectively, that's been something that we've looked into a pipeline in the past, and every time we do the cost to do it, it's just it's so high, we've never been able to find a way to get a good ROI on that investment.

Tom Kress: 12:33

Yeah, that's, that's hard. And it's something that I do see with manufacturing with additive is, unless you're getting the batch sizes, you know, a lot of the cost is coming from time on the machine, you can get really cool shapes out of stuff. It's just hard to do a lot of something at one time. And I think that's that's kind of where we've struggled. We look at CNC or we look at injection molding, and we can get more competitive prices sometimes that way. Yeah. Okay.

Aaron Moncur: 13:06

Well, let's talk about the engineers that you lead, specifically the habits or traits or behaviors that they have, what are the habits, traits, behaviors that you've seen in the most successful engineers, and then also in the most successful engineering teams.

Tom Kress: 13:24

So I would say the thing that I've seen, from the most successful engineers on my team, it has been kind of a curiosity, to learn, not only like, the products that we have, and that we manufacture, but also curiosity about what's going on in the market, talking to a bunch of different people across the company to understand things that they're doing, that we might be able to implement. So there's that kind of thirst for knowledge on how to do things better, or how to do things more cost effectively. The other thing that I've seen too, is they are very independent, and they are able to trust in themselves and their ability to do things right and, and get things done. And we're looking for help, as it's needed, either from myself or from the cross functional team. So I think it's really just having that drive and, and having a curiosity to keep learning.

Aaron Moncur: 14:38

Yeah, I'll add a couple of things there. Two others that come to mind, for me are persistence. I think that nine times out of 10, or maybe even 99 times out of 100. It's the persistent engineer who's smart enough, maybe not the smartest guy in the room or girl, but at least smart enough, but very, very persistent. You know, tenacious, just won't stop attacking the problem. That succeeds. And then the other one is a way that you mentioned this actually willingness to to ask questions. I've worked with some engineers in the past where they felt, I guess, a little embarrassed to ask questions. You know, they didn't want to admit that that didn't know something. And we all don't know something. I had plenty of things. I don't know. But it's not productive, right for them to just sit there kind of spinning their wheels when they could ask someone else and get an answer for be quickly and move on to the next thing.

Tom Kress: 15:39

Yeah, I know, early in my career I did struggle with with that aspect. For sure, I felt embarrassment or I felt like I should know this thing. But I think, you know, started trusting that I knew what I was doing and that I was smart enough. But understanding, like you said that I don't know everything. But other people have very good information as well. Or they have a different perspective than they may not have thought about, or a different way of thinking that than I have. So it's it's good, became a little bit more natural and a little easier to ask for question than for help.

Aaron Moncur: 16:18

Yeah, I think there's definitely some confidence that comes with age and maturity, looking back and seeing the solutions you have come up with. And then it becomes maybe a little bit easier to ask because you know, that your know, you know that you know what you're doing, even if you don't know everything? Well, what are some of the most valuable technical skills that that you want to see in your engineers?

Tom Kress: 16:46

So a lot of it for me is really, there probably problem solving abilities, how they think through problems. You kind of mentioned this earlier, but how they attack problems. So that's definitely something that I look for. Because I don't think there's ever been an engineering project that I've worked on that we haven't run into a problem. So I think, kind of understanding how they go about doing that and their problem solving abilities. I like I like that, look for that a lot as hiring. And then, you know, from the technical side, I think it depends kind of on the function that I'm hiring for. I've hired for systems engineering, for mechanical, for electrical, and for optical as well. And I think each kind of function has different things that you want to look for technical standpoint. So I know as systems engineering, a lot of it for me is, how do you write requirements? How do you go about trace matrix, setting those up? How do you look at architecture? How well do you understand kind of the other cross functions that you need to pull together? So, you know, from that side, and then mechanical engineering, I'm looking for their mechanical design and how they go about designing parts, how they, how they go about doing like finite element analysis, those kinds of things as well, I really tried to look for, I guess, using the mechanical engineering experience that they have, and what skill sets they that they have to bring to the table. So I think it really just depends on the on the discipline that I'm hiring for, in terms of the technical skills that I look for. Yeah,

Aaron Moncur: 18:50

well said. I've worked with a lot of mechanical engineers myself in the past. And one thing I've noticed is that the mechanical engineers who work with their hands outside of their job, whether it's fixing their car, or doing projects around the house, but the ones who are building things outside of their job, they tend to be the ones who perform the best as mechanical engineers. And then there are others who they understand the theory. Conceptually, they understand engineering and the equations and where the buttons are in CAD. But they just don't seem to be as successful as the other ones. They seem to struggle a little bit to be honest. So whenever I'm hiring a mechanical engineer, I like to ask about what they do in their free time. And if I hear that they're working on their car, or building something at home, that to me is a really great positive indication.

Tom Kress: 19:51

And it's a good it's a good suggestion enough to, to incorporate that.

Aaron Moncur: 19:58

You've got two ideas now for hiring. I know chemical for process and building things for mechanical is great. That's right. All right. Well, let's, let's take a very short break here so I can share with the listeners that our company pipeline design and engineering develops new and innovative manufacturing processes for complex products, then implements them into manual fixtures or fully automated machines to dramatically reduce production costs and improved production yields for OEMs. Will you be attending the medical design and manufacturing and the nm trade show this February? in Anaheim, if so, we'd love to meet you face to face, stop by our booth number 1992. And say hi, we'll have hands on demos of our EZ r&d product line for you to experience as well. That's booth 1992, February 6 through eighth for the MD and M trade show at the Anaheim Convention Center. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Tom Kress, Tom, what are a couple of your biggest challenges as an engineering leader.

Tom Kress: 21:11

So I came up being an engineer, I enjoy being an engineer and doing the technical stuff. I think one of the things that they struggle with sometimes being a leader is the politics and having to deal with the politics. I would also say, having some time to convince people to do things, because it's the right thing from a technical standpoint, and getting pushed back on on budget and resourcing. Yeah, I think those are, those are things that I struggle with as a leader. And learning to manage a little bit better so that I can try and remove some of those roadblocks. But I feel like sometimes that gets in the way of the fun, which is engineering and the technical side of things. Right?

Aaron Moncur: 21:59

Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of politics, for especially maybe some younger engineers who might be listening to this, who haven't had the opportunity to experience politics in the workplace for themselves? What I mean, of course, like, without naming names, or anything specific details, or anything like that, but can you share an example? Or even a rough example of what do you mean, when you say politics?

Tom Kress: 22:26

So in kind of general terms, I would say that people are drawn to other people. And they form relationships with those people. And I think if they build good relationships with them, they like to help them out and do things for them, you can ask favors, and they'll, they'll be more inclined to do things for you. And I think on the flip side of that, there are people that kind of get aligned that form little cliques, and they, you know, look out for those people that are close to them, and, and kind of stay away from the people that are in that circle. Yeah. And so, you know, especially in leadership positions, as they get pulled up, they bring up the people that are close to them, and maybe stay away from from other people or or don't look necessarily in that direction. Yeah. Also, we go through reorganizations and stuff like that. So in terms of who to keep on which teams and that kind of stuff, but it has influence there, as well.

Aaron Moncur: 23:37

So potentially less of a meritocracy. And more of a, like you said, like a high school clique, almost the in crowd, right.

Tom Kress: 23:46

Yeah. But I think, you know, it has impacts with, you know, seen a lot in the market recently in terms of layoffs. But who are those people that get chosen for that? Because a lot of times it's not, it's not merit based? Right. They've looked at the at the structure, they eliminate the position and stuff like that. So I think that that plays a role there as well.

Aaron Moncur: 24:10

Yeah. It's an unfortunate reality. Nevertheless, I think there's a really important lesson in there, which is to be successful in your career as an engineer, but in any professional position. Really, it's, it's, it's about more than just the technical skills, you have to have the technical skills, of course, but you also need to have the people skills, and it is worth investing some time developing strong relationships with others on the team at the organization.

Tom Kress: 24:43

Absolutely. And I think another really good way to do that is to find a mentor, at your company, or even outside your company to talk through situations with ask about how to approach things, how to present ideas. I know that was really helpful for me to build up those people skills and then be able to be flexible and adaptable. As I'm talking to different people, because everybody has their different communication style and kind of figuring that out and framing things in a way to speak to that. It takes time and practice but it helps if you have people to bounce ideas off of.

Aaron Moncur: 25:32

I love that. You mentioned mentors. I think that is such a crucial opponent of any engineers growth. And I'm going to use this as a opportunity for a shameless plug for the wave dot engineer. This is a new and a new community that that my team has put together, it's live right now the wave dot engineer, th e, w a v dot engineer. And there are a lot of useful tools, community education on the way that engineers can benefit from but one of them, one that I think maybe is one of the most important is a mentor section where there are I think we have maybe eight or 10. Right now, senior level engineers who have been there done that, right, they have deep experience in the industry, they understand something about politics, they also understand the technical side of things. And these are engineers who have been willing to be mentors to to younger engineers. So if you're a younger engineer listening to this, and for whatever reason, you can't find the right mentor at your organization, go to the wave dot engineer, and check out the mentor section. And you can reach out and connect with these people directly. I mean, they're they've created profiles there, because they want to mentor younger engineers. So that's a great free resource. Go check it out. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program here. Tom, so we talked a little bit about a few of your biggest challenges as an engineering leader, what do you think are some of the big challenges facing medical device companies? He's?

Tom Kress: 27:16

So it's kind of the same answer in a different light. Politics. I think, you know, having leaders in Washington in place that really support some of the initiatives that some of the mid device companies are trying to do, is really important. And in terms of controlling the regulations and all of that stuff, as well. I think that's something that has a big impact on on companies and in different spaces. I know when I worked for, for, for Sidious, there were a lot of Bill proposals around how clinics were set up with their patients and how often they could be open. And that, you know, has direct impact on on sales of the company in terms of their devices and their clinics, and how many people they can hire and that kind of stuff as well. So I don't think it's something that we see all the time. Or think about all the time, but it definitely has a has an impact.

Aaron Moncur: 28:23

Yeah, it all goes back to people in the end, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. Well, what what's the what? What's a tool that if this tool existed, would help your team perform, you know, 10 times 100 times better than that they can today, and this can be anything outside the realm of noon physics, even let your imagination go crazy. What what tool you wish you had, that doesn't exist right now, that would really dramatically increase the productivity of your team.

Tom Kress: 28:57

I could think of a solution and it would pop up right in front of me. Test it.

Aaron Moncur: 29:05

This sounds like an AI related solution here at this. That's where

Tom Kress: 29:09

I know this guy. I know. No. I mean, having to wait for lead times and work through complicated limitations on manufacturing processes. Just to get parts to go and test. Oh,

Aaron Moncur: 29:24

I see what you're saying. So yeah, idea for like a new part. And all of a sudden, that part is just immediately there in front of you. In my hand, I could just go yes. That would be amazing, wouldn't it? Yeah. Yeah. That really, I mean, the heart of that is saving time, right finding finding ways to be faster. Yeah,

Tom Kress: 29:43

I think if we find ways to free up time, we can get more done. When we have too much to do, and not enough time to do it. Yeah. Yeah.

Aaron Moncur: 29:52

Nor nor enough resources, usually.

Tom Kress: 29:55

Yeah, that too.

Aaron Moncur: 29:57

Well, a follow up to that if you had no limitations on time or other resources, money, people, whatever it is, what is the one thing that you do for your company that would have the most significant impact on achieving its business goals?

Tom Kress: 30:14

And I don't have a good answer for that. I think that I think one thing I could think of is in the AI space when we talk about, you know, how much data is generated at our companies, finding ways that our company could utilize all of that data in a sense should weigh to create synergies between the different business units and aid and sharing of information and that kind of stuff. I could see us doing useful things with all of that data. I don't think we have the time or resources to understand all of the data that we have. Yeah, and what it's telling us. But yeah, I think that would be really interesting to kind of see what that kind of stuff could tell us and, and how it could direct us in ways to improve processing needs or improved product designs? Well, hopefully, that

Aaron Moncur: 31:13

is an area where AI can eventually help, it seems like not too far off, actually, they're not the latest version of chat GPT, you can upload datasets and have it analyze things,

Tom Kress: 31:25

which is pretty cool. That's pretty cool.

Aaron Moncur: 31:28

How do you see the the future of medical devices in the US changing over the next three, four or five years?

Tom Kress: 31:36

I mean, we just kind of touched on it, I think. But I think AI, getting into devices more and more. And, you know, I, I've worked on mainly electromechanical devices. So we haven't done a lot with AI in some spaces. But, you know, the instruments that we work on, do generate a lot of data. And I think if we're able to understand that a little bit better, we can be more predictive about component or assembly failures, that could help, you know, servicing instruments, you know, scheduling, preventative maintenance kind of stuff. I could definitely see like, you know, instrumentation, being able to, to inform the company in terms of what's needed. And then when I think that would really help the customer experience as well. Yeah, because they wouldn't have as much downtime in their instance and wouldn't have as many unplanned visits to their, to their homes, to their, to their companies as well, labs, etc.

Aaron Moncur: 32:45

Right. Yeah. Okay, well, I think just one or two more questions, and we'll wrap things up here. Specifically, within the context of your role as an engineer, what is one thing that frustrates you? And conversely, one thing that brings you joy?

Tom Kress: 33:05

So as an engineer, I think the thing that brings me the most joy is when I solve a particularly difficult problem.

Aaron Moncur: 33:13

Yeah. What a magical feeling. Yeah,

Tom Kress: 33:16

it really is. And that is why I continue to be an engineer. Like I said earlier, always running into problems. But when you get one that just can't seem to figure out and then it clicks. Go home feeling very good that day. Definitely. Yeah. And then I think the thing that that can be frustrating as an engineer to is, knowing that you have a really good idea, but having it not be the one that bubbles up to the surface. I think that that is really frustrating. Especially and I've been in situations where, you know, move forward with the solution that was chosen and you run into problems and you're like, could have told you I think that's, that's really frustrating from an engineering standpoint. Sure. Yeah.

Aaron Moncur: 34:12

Yep. All right. Well, Tom, thank you so much for being with me today and sharing some of your experiences and insights with all the listeners, how can people get in touch with you?

Tom Kress: 34:25

I think the best way is on LinkedIn. And look me up there. Okay.

Aaron Moncur: 34:29

No home address, huh? And today. Okay, perfect. Well, Tom, thanks again, so much.

Tom Kress: 34:36

Yes, thank you for having me.

Aaron Moncur: 34:40

I'm Aaron Moncur, founder of pipeline design, and engineering. If you liked what you heard today, please share the episode. To learn how your team can leverage our team's expertise developing turnkey equipment, custom fixtures and automated machines and with product design, visit us at Team pipeline.us. Thanks for listening